Chatham County sheriff seeks slippery jail inmate

Friday

Dec 7, 2012 at 1:50 PM

Savannah Morning News

Law enforcement officials are searching for a 30-year-old man they say scammed his way out of the Chatham County jail Thursday night.

The Chatham County Sheriff's Office issued warrants for the arrest of 30-year-old Ricardo Sean Chambers for escape and for making false statements and writings in connection to his 7 p.m. escape, said Michelle Gavin, sheriff's spokeswoman.

Gavin said Chambers, who was jailed on charges of theft by receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance, stole an identification wristband from an inmate who was set to be released. Using personal information about that inmate, Chambers was able to pass through the discharge procedures and exit the jail.

Chambers, who is of Jamaican decent, is currently being sought by the sheriff's office, the U.S. Marshal's Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who'd placed a hold on him.

Gavin said Chambers is known to frequent the Covington Avenue area in Garden City; his last known employer was Island Breeze on Montgomery Street.

The sheriff's office's Internal Affairs Division is currently investigating the incident, Gavin said. Initial information has led officers to believe the inmate whose wristband was stolen was not involved. That person has since been released from jail.

Sheriff Al St Lawrence and his command staff have begun a full review of the jail's discharge procedures to ensure a similar incident will not happen in the future, Gavin said.

Anyone with any information about the whereabouts of Richard Sean Chambers is asked to call the CCSO at 912-652-7693, or call 911 or CrimeStoppers anonymously at 912-234-2020.